All the Right Things
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: This time, the pain is mine too. This time, I am part of it. So surely it follows that I have a right to try and put her pieces back together? TsumuguxChisaki , one-shot. Rated T to be safe.


**This is in a similar structure to my Dangan Ronpa story 'Crossing the Line' where the story alternates viewpoints throughout, in a drabbly way. In this case, I used normal type for Chisaki and italics for Tsumugu. I guess you could call this kind of AU, but who knows? Anything could happen in the next 3 episodes. **

**So , anyway , I hope you enjoy this!**

_I don't know why I knew this, but when the phone rang that afternoon, I just knew that something else had changed. But I didn't know what had changed. _

_I would have been the first to know, but Chisaki got to the phone before I did, and so she was the first. We were all in the room, and we watched her as she listened. _

_For the first few moments, her expression was that of someone listening quietly. When that expression changed, I instantly knew what had changed. _

'G-Grandpa?' That was the only thing I could say. Suddenly, it felt as if the ground was shaking, shifting underneath me. Nothing was real.

I didn't realise that the phone had been slipping from my hand until Tsumugu caught it with one hand and took over, calmly.

His other hand? He used that to steady me. And again, I hadn't realised I was _actually_ falling until he did. His touch was so, so warm, and it seared through my clothes in a way that made me all too aware of it. But at the same time, it was keeping me together. So I didn't move away. Instead, I let him steady me, and I listened to his voice as he made the arrangements needed, without actually hearing the words.

Without actually hearing the words.

_She was relatively calm when we went over to the hospital, although she did let me do most of the speaking. That didn't surprise me too much, as I figured she didn't want to betray the storm inside of her. _

_But even so, I kept a careful eye on her. _

I didn't want to cry.

I didn't want to. I didn't even think that I could cry anymore. I've lost too many tears, these past 5 years.

But I was wrong. It seems that I was still able to cry. So I tried, tried to keep it in. I kept the tears in while in the hospital. I kept them in while Sayama-kun drove us back. I kept them in while Tsumugu helped me make dinner. I kept them in when we ate dinner, and when I had a bath, and until I got to the safety of my room.

But when I got into my room, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I just couldn't.

_I heard her grief drifting through the door as I went past her room to get to my own. It made me pause._

_Almost instantly, I was transported back to 5 years ago .3 years ago. Two weeks ago. All those times I was standing helplessly, unable to comfort the girl I loved. Standing helplessly, with every reason, and yet no right to do so. _

_Not so this time. _

_This time, the pain is mine too. This time, I am part of it. _

_So surely it follows that I have a right to try and put her pieces back together? _

_So I slowly and carefully opened the door and stood in the doorway. _

_I contemplated the figure of Chisaki, hunched up in the middle of the room, shaking with the force of her sobbing. She didn't even have time to get to her futon before losing it. If I take another step, I will actually be in her room. If I make that decision, I will be disregarding all the boundaries I set for myself. Ordinarily, that would have been so, so wrong. But this time, it is the right thing to do. _

_And this is what I told myself as I took those steps. _

Someone came into my room, but this was something I barely registered. It would have been the polite thing to do, but I couldn't. I just couldn't.

_Once I'd actually done it, I had no idea what to do. No idea at all. I watched her for a moment, and then I realised that not only would she find it embarrassing that I had _seen_ her, but that either way, I'd be here for a while. _

_So I decided to sit down._

I felt something strong, and solid. It is faintly touching my back, but the warmth seared me. And from this, I knew that it was Tsumugu.

I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. And that, in itself, was a solace.

_I am good at waiting. It is something I have spent most of my life doing. So I waited for her. I was prepared to wait as long as it takes. _

Eventually, eventually, I felt strong enough to uncurl, to look up. But not by myself. I leant against Tsumugu's back, thinking that, like a scaffold, he was so supportive. Then I realised –he had always been that. My scaffolding.

_She quietened gradually, and as she did, I wondered how this would look to an onlooker. A girl and a boy, sitting back to back. The girl initially hunched up and grieving, but eventually sitting up so that she is leaning against the back of the boy. I wondered how that would look. _

_But it didn't really matter. Not really. _

Almost as if something else was governing me, I moved my hand slightly, so that it would cover his. A silent thank you, almost.

_When her hand covered mine, it made me want to just turn around and gather her in my arms and not let go. But I didn't. I couldn't. Surely that would have been going too far?_

I wondered what he was feeling, what he was thinking. I didn't want to guess, for I could be so wrong. So carefully, I turned around, and whispered his name-the only word in this silent conversation of ours.

_For some irrational reason, I was afraid when she said my name in that hesitantly broken voice of hers. But despite that, I turned around, and then we were facing each other. _

_Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes, already so shimmery, had a sheen that wasn't already there. Her expression was unreadable , a concept so foreign to me. I had no idea what would happen, what could happen._

Tsumugu didn't say anything as we watched each other. But the silence, it wasn't awkward. Instead, it enveloped us. It cushioned us. And that silence, it made me realise something.

I am two people.

One of those people is a 14 year old girl, scared of change, in love with her childhood friend , a girl who knew nothing but the sea. The other person…that other person, is the girl I am now.

I am not 14 anymore, I am 19. I have spent 5 years on the surface. I am still scared of change…and while Hikari is still precious…the feelings are different.

I am two people. But which one is actually me?

I'm scared. I'm so scared. I wanted to say that, but I couldn't.

But somehow, from the look in his eyes, I knew Tsumugu had figured that out ages ago.

_She laced her fingers in mine, and I stayed still. Her other hand came up to tenderly touch my cheek, and I didn't breathe. I was too afraid, too afraid that if I let my feelings govern my actions then I'd go too far and I would be wrong. _

"_Chisaki?" I asked. _

_Her response was to simply look up at me. God, her eyes. Although the lights weren't switched on at that time, her eyes glittered and shimmered and glowed, they told me about the conflict she had been experiencing. _

_She tilted her head slightly, and opened her mouth a fraction as if she wanted to say something, and then changed her mind. Instead, she looked at me in that heart rending way. _

_And so, I came to the conclusion that whatever happened from here wouldn't be wrong. It couldn't be._

His lips brush my forehead so, so carefully. It makes my heart sing. But it isn't enough.

It isn't enough.

_For a moment, I thought I'd misread the situation, and I was getting ready to apologise and get the hell away when she smiled. _

_She smiled an odd half smile, the same smile she gave me when teaching me how to properly tie a tie. The smile she used to mock-scold me for never explaining things properly. That teasing smile I have seen in so many variations over the past 5 years. That smile. _

"_Oh Tsumugu…" she says in a whisper. "Surely…surely you can do better than that?"_

**So…yeah. A lot of this requires reading between the lines. I hope that isn't too confusing….**

**Anyway , please leave feedback!**


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